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1 1 (December 20, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejwm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service M~~Tinforming the legislative debate since 1914 Updated December 20, 2022 Indian Energy Programs at the Department of Energy Indian energy programs at the Department of Energy (DOE) are primarily carried out by the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) and the Loan Programs Office (LPO). IE funds various activities that assist Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages with energy development, energy-related capacity building, reduction of energy costs, and electrification of tribal lands and homes. LPO provides loan guarantees and direct lending to Indian tribes for energy development. Tribes and Alaska Native villages may be eligible for funding through other DOE programs as well. An overview of IE and LPO and each program's legislative and administrative history is provided below. Indian Energy Program Section 2606 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102- 486, EPACT 1992) authorized DOE to grant financial assistance to Indian tribal governments. Through legislative and administrative action, the program has changed over time. IE provides financial assistance, technical assistance, and education and capacity building to address barriers to deployment of energy generation and energy efficiency projects on tribal lands. IE funding for FY2022 totaled $58 million (P.L. 117-103). Financial Assistance Financial Assistance constitutes IE's primary form of support for energy technology deployment on tribal lands. Financial Assistance is available for the following types of energy technology projects: (1) transition tribal colleges and universities to renewable energy; (2) provide universal energy access on tribal reservations; (3) transition tribal reservations to low-carbon energy; and (4) train and build tribal energy resource capacity skills. From 2010 through 2022, IE reports its financial assistance totaled nearly $114 million for more than 200 tribal energy projects, plus cost-shares by grant recipients totaling over $80 million. Technical Assistance IE technical assistance is intended to help overcome obstacles or fulfill needs in developing and implementing tribal energy projects. According to IE, Current projects funded by DOE grants receive highest priority. Priority will also be given to tribes that have previously submitted grant applications, but have not yet received awards. Types of technical assistance provided by IE include education and outreach, technical analysis, financial analysis, and strategic energy planning for tribal energy projects. IE reports that almost 400 technical assistance requests have been completed between 2010 and 2022. Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program Section 503 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58, EPACT 2005), among other provisions, authorized DOE to guarantee up to 90% of loans (including principal and interest) made to an Indian tribe or a tribal energy development organization for energy development. Aggregate outstanding guaranteed loans cannot exceed $2 billion at any time. As with all federal credit programs, loans guaranteed under this program are statutorily required to pay a subsidy cost (a share of estimated program-wide losses) prior to finalizing the loan guarantee agreement. Subsidy costs can be paid through appropriations, by the applicant, or a combination thereof. Congress provided funding to the program in FY2017 including $8.5 million to be available for loan guarantee subsidy costs. DOE first issued a solicitation for the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program (TELGP) in 2018. DOE amended and restated a solicitation on May 25, 2022, and supplemented the solicitation on September 30, 2022. Submissions are due by August 31, 2028. In May 2022, DOE eliminated application, facility, and maintenance fees related to TELGP in response to concerns expressed by tribes. FY2022 appropriations (P.L. 117-103) provided authority for the Secretary of Energy to provide direct loans through the Federal Financing Bank via the LPO. This authority was also granted for funds appropriated previously. P.L. 117- 169, often referred to as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, made permanent direct lending authority for TELGP and eliminated the 90% limit for loan guarantees. This eligibility was first implemented by an updated solicitation issued in July 2022 (Section 50145). The law also appropriated $75 million through September 30, 2028, and expanded the loan guarantee authority from $2 billion to $20 billion. At the time of publication, no loans or loan guarantees have been issued under this program. (For more details, see CRS Insight IN 11452, Department of Energy Loan Programs: Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee.) Legislative History of Indian Energy Prograrms Section 2606 of EPACT 1992 authorized DOE to grant financial assistance to Indian tribal governments for projects that evaluate or adopt energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on Indian reservations. Sections 502 and 503 of EPACT 2005 established IE within DOE. In addition, EPACT 2005 broadened the DOE tribal financial assistance program to a wider range of energy projects. This included a grant program to assist tribes in meeting energy-related needs, authorizing appropriations of $20 million annually for FY2006 through FY2016. CRS estimates approximately $64 million was appropriated during this period. The Energy Act of 2020 (Division Z of P.L. 116-260) reauthorized this program for $30 million

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